Chin highlights the differences between documented and undocumented immigrants in the workforce

Legal immigrants can have various motives for leaving their home country and coming to New York. The Chinese garment workers are an example of legal immigrants. They came to New York primarily in search of economic opportunities. According to Chin, the Legal Chinese immigrants were likely to have family in the US who help sponsor the new immigrants and often helped them get jobs. They usually plan on staying for long periods of time and want to be paid in checks so that they have proof of their wages to establish credit or bring in a family member from China. Because of their legal status there is a broader variety of jobs offered to them. However, their legal status doesn’t necessarily make it easier for them to find a job. Like American workers, they find certain conditions unacceptable and want union benefits such as health insurance and many undocumented workers may take their jobs because they are willing to work for less.

The undocumented immigrants, such as the Hispanic garment workers, have different motives and experiences in the garment factory. Because of their illegal status, they are at great risk of exploitation which limits the jobs that are open to them. The undocumented Hispanic workers also came for economic opportunities but with a different end goal. Unlike the Chinese garment workers who planned on making a future for themselves and their families in the United States, the Hispanic workers merely came with the intention of staying for a short period of time in order to send back money to their family. Therefore, they were interested in high wages that were paid by check. They generally come alone and leave their children in their home country. They also rarely help one another out with finding jobs. Surprisingly, the undocumented claim to have an easy time finding jobs. One undocumented worker said, “It’s not that hard to find work—you can find work anywhere if you’re undocumented. People work in restaurants, delis, grocery stores. And you can always find a job. So we are not afraid of leaving our jobs.”

As said in chapters 1-4 of Sewing Women, Chinese garment factories hired family and fellow Chinese, whereas, the Koreans hired Mexicans and Ecuadorians. The Chinese felt more for a need of trust and family than money. They allowed for a relaxed work environment while giving a piece-wise wage. The work efficiency, however, isn’t up to its full potential since it is more lenient. In Korean factories, Koreans take advantage of the foreign and inexperienced side of the workers. They give lower pay to the workers than they would if they hired Koreans. The workers have few close relationships with fellow coworkers. Korean factories also receive more orders made by white customers than orders received by Chinese factories.

I find it interesting what ideals the Chinese and Koreans go by and how work ethics were stereotype to different races. Mexicans and Ecuadorians were preferred because they are though to have a stronger work ethic than African Americans and Puerto Ricans.

The chinese ethnic enclaves discussed throughout our class are perhaps best illustrated through the garment industry. When looking at the garment industry form the outside it is clear there are two main escorts: the Chinese run and worked factories, and the Korean owned, Ecuadorian- and Mexican-worked ones.
The motives behind hiring are fueled my economic greed and racial stereotyping. As described in the text, employers prefer to hire non-English speaking, undocumented workers who will accept low wage without argument. They also tend to avoid hiring certain ethnic groups such as Puerto Ricans and African americans (among others), because they have fallen victim to the belief that these groups make for lazy workers. This struck me as particularly alarming because it shows how the media, both domestic and international truly affect the perceptions of Americans and fuel racist sentiment. These patterns greatly influence how the shop is run.
Because the Chinese tend to higher only Chinese workers, there is a greater social net within the factories. An understanding of language and culture makes for a more trusting environment between workers and employers, allowing for example, women to leave to run errands and be with their children so long as all the work is finished on time. However, there are drawbacks for employers under this system because many women tend to fear speaking up for their rights, since the community is so close-knit.
The Koreans aim to hire inexperienced and young workers since they can get way with paying them less.
Further differences between the two are reflected in participation of unions, referral systems, and wage structure.

The second half of Margaret Chin’s Sewing Women further explores the differences between Chinese owned and Korean owned garment shops. The most obvious difference between the two groups is that the Chinese hire Chinese workers almost exclusively and Koreans hire Hispanics. The Chinese workers are often hired through an extensive network of informal familial references. It can be assumed that Chinese garment shop owners hire fellow countrymen because they feel they can trust and connect to their own kin. Conversely, Koreans do not hire fellow Koreans because they will demand higher wages and less hours. Korean garment shop owners select Hispanic workers because they are willing to work no matter what the conditions. Furthermore, Korean shop owners use the undocumented status of Hispanics as leverage, because they know that their are few job opportunities for the illegal Hispanics.

Overall, Korean owned garment shops are more structured and formal than Chinese owned garment shops. Workers in Korean shops are generally more skilled. Furthermore, productivity and efficiency is emphasized in Korean garment shops. The sweatshop overseers are generally indifferent to the workers needs. This contrasts to Chinese owned shops where the environment is informal and more friendly. This is owed to the fact that owners and hired workers share a common ancestry.

The second half of Professor Chin’s “Sewing Women” discusses the hiring patterns of Chinese and Korean employers and how these patterns affect the ability of immigrants to attain a stable job. The hiring habits of Chinese and Korean workers are both economically and racially driven. Koreans often hire Mexican and Ecuadorian workers, most of them undocumented, unable to speak English, and willing to accept low cash wages. Korean employers do desire to hire other Korean workers, but do not do so because Korean workers demand higher wages. Korean workers are also skilled enough to work in ‘upper-class’ garment shops, that is, the shops of white employers. Chinese employers, on the other hand, almost always hire other Chinese workers, and this hiring pattern is largely due to the referral system present in the Chinese garment sector. New workers who are employed by Chinese employers are often referred by family members or friends and are sponsored and trained by these said relatives. Chinese employers also pay by piece, not by hour, and so they do not lose profits by hiring slower, untrained workers. These workers will just have to earn less until they are able to match the skills of the already established workers. The worker referral system is almost non-existent in the Korean sector, largely due to the fear of Hispanic workers losing their jobs. Because of the rising illegal emigration of Hispanics, there is an increase in the pool of workers willing to work for any amount of money. This causes a lot of fear in existing workers, afraid to refer others who are unskilled and give them a bad name or those who are skilled and will take over their position.

With all of these disparities between the hiring tendencies of Chinese and Korean employers, there is one very obvious similarity between the two groups: their tendency to reject African-American and Puerto Rican workers. Both groups see African-Americans and Puerto Ricans as lazy and inefficient workers and this makes it harder for these two groups to find a job within the garment district.

Chapters 5-9 of Sewing Women dove deeper into the differences between Chinese and Korean. The Chinese shop was a more family oriented shop, and although these shops had a much more sense of comfort to them, they also had their cons. The Chinese garment shop owners tended to hire only Chinese workers. These Chinese workers would most likely be relatives of other workers, which created a well and tight-knit community, but because these workers were given jobs from their relatives, it was harder for them to make mistakes because it would not only reflect on themselves, but on the relative that recommended them as well.

The Korean workers did not have this debt, which allowed them to be less afraid of asking for necessities. These workers were also more skilled and paid higher wages than the Chinese workers. They did not have people in the workplace that they could call close friends because of the fear of not being productive and losing their jobs.

Although the Korean factories hired Hispanics, both the Chinese owned, and Korean owned factories refused to hire Puerto Ricans and African Americans because they thought that these people were lazy. This is something I found really surprising. Not only do we have a economic class pyramid, we also have a ethic and racial pyramid.

             The next four chapters of “Sewing Women” delve further into the differences between Chinese and Korean garment industries. The tight knit community of the Chinese factories required the workers to teach their family members the skills needed to work at the factory. This might be frustrating while working. Furthermore, it was more difficult to ask for higher pay for fear of appearing disrespectful.

            The Korean garment factories hired outside of their own kind. There was an assembly line system that ensured worker efficiency and speed because they were only responsible for a specific task each day. The Korean factories are also more elite than the Chinese because they hire people who are trained.

            Both the Chinese and Korean garment industries had their flaws. Children spent much of their time in the workplace, so many Chinese workers never developed a way out. They were unable to get the skills necessary to pursue another career. The Chinese workers were exploited because they were grateful for the tight knit community, so injustices were rarely reported. The Korean factories had an environment that was more stressful than the Chinese. Everyone is doing their own work, so there is not such a sense of community. For example, a Hispanic woman said that despite her conversations with other workers, she did not have close friends because she was fearful of losing her job. Although distance can be seen as a negative quality, Hispanic workers were more inclined to ask for a raise or quit because there was no risk of losing respect within a community or family.

            It was surprising to learn that there was a high degree of intolerance towards African Americans and Puerto Ricans. These groups were seen as incompetent and incapable of work. Even though so many different groups came to America to work, there was still a sort of implicit hierarchy within the immigrants that was obvious when Koreans rejected many workers because of their skin color or ancestry.

Chapters 5-9 in Sewing women was very interesting.

I found it weird at first how the Korean shop owners did not hire people from their own ethnicity for jobs in the garment industry, but later found out that this was because Korean sewers are too expensive and many of them prefer to work in nail salons where work is easier. I also found it sneaky how the Chinese and Korean shop owners prefer to hire non-English-speaking employees because people who knew English were more capable of standing up for their rights.

I don’t think that it is fair that the Chinese and the Koreans discriminate against Blacks and Puerto Ricans. I know where they are coming from because society’s views of Blacks and Puerto Ricans are that they are lazy, and the Chinese and Koreans do not want to take any risks on their business. It is a safer bet for them to hire Hispanics and Chinese because they are undocumented and need the job more so they work harder. I found it surprising when a Puerto Rican woman recalled how she wanted to apply for a sewing job, but was turned away because she had a a Puerto Rican mother and she knew English. She told her sister-in-law to apply for the same job but with an accent, and she almost got the deal until she mentioned that her mother was from Puerto Rico. If a person is desperate enough to apply for a job in the sewing industry, then it may mean that they are desperate for the job. I think he Chinese and Koreans should give people a chance because desperate people most likely would not risk their job for laziness.

Chapter 1-4:
– Why were these specific interviewees subcategorized to their age? What difference does a younger or an older immigrant make in the scope of the study?
– Are there cultural differences in immigration patterns? The Chinese seem to be more family-conjunct while Latinos are more solitary. Is this an economic or cultural value?
– Chinese bring their kids with them while Mexican/Ecuadorian leave their children behind.
– Chinese factories hire Chinese, while Korean hire mostly Mexican workers. Why the racial/ethnic difference in hiring in the two managements?

Chapter 5-9:
– It was intriguing that the Ecuadorian wages are appropriate while the Mexicans were willing to accept lower wages. This is because the Ecuadorians had a higher level of education and more job experience. Perhaps the Ecuadorians should inform the Mexicans that they should go to the Worker’s Center. On the other hand, in the long run, the Mexicans become more experienced and increase their wages.
– I thought it was unfair that the Chinese workers had to pay respect to the person who brought them in by not complaining of the job hardships. The low wages are unfair and is a matter of a safe workplace, which every employee should be granted.

Chapter Five was perhaps one of the most telling chapters of this whole book. There are a few points worth looking at more in detail:

On page 84 a Korean shop owner says, “Can you imagine, let’s say 70 percent of the garments in this garment district are made by people who have no papers. They deserve more than just getting a bad name. They put in so much hard work.” Illegal or not, if all of American society could show a little compassion and see the humanity of these immigrants, our national debate on immigration would so much more productive. Instead of appealing to the nationalist, racist, and xenophobic sentiments of those Americans who would go ahead and make American our national language, our elected representatives could instead seriously weigh the economic and societal consequences, both negative and positive, of these immigrants, and how we can best respond to the reality of their presence.

Of course, the chapter then goes on to examine the mindset of both Chinese and Korean shop owners towards African Americans and Puerto Ricans. Based solely on stereotypes and anecdotal information, both employers almost entirely refuse to hire individuals of these groups. Interestingly, Korean employers who had experience with Dominican workers compared them to their other hispanic workers.

And as compassionate as the Korean shop owner of the first paragraph may be, it is important to remember that the industry as a whole is extremely exploitative; Chinese and Korean garment shops both cite the fear that African Americans or immigrants with a command of English language and the American legal system would be more apt to report violations and demand minimum wage. Chinese workers often have familial obligations towards the shop where they work and therefore almost never report such violations; illegal hispanic immigrants in Korean shops are often afraid to speak to the authorities on these matters.

Still, there are things about the garment industry worth defending. In the chinese community, it creates a social and economic network, gives immigrant families access to health insurance (through UNITE), and has been structured to accommodate the schedules of caretakers and mothers. Likewise, hispanic workers in Korean shops point to opportunities for advancements within the industry, (relatively) high wages, and the availability of work. While the garment industry of once-upon-a-time is no longer, garment shops are diversifying and neither the fashion industry nor City Hall want to see the industry die out altogether. It remains to be seen how new waves of immigration and technological advancements transform these shops in the next few years.

In chapters 5 through 9 of Margaret Chin’s Sewing Women, what stood out most to to me were the comparisons between the Chineses and Korean garment shops. In the Chinese shops, the workers were all mostly family related. For example, if someone had a new relative coming over from China, they would have a spot for them in their garment shop under the conditions that the relatives already working in the store would teach the new relative all the tricks of the trade, i.e. as long the new relative did not cause any trouble and  benefitted the shop they were welcome to come. In Korean garment shops this was not so. The Korean owners accepted basically anyone to their shop, as long as they were willing to work. Another difference between the Korean and Chinese shops are the types of work the sewing women performed. In Chinese shops, all the women working would be responsible for producing entire garments and would be paid the amount of of garments they produced in a certain amount of time. In the Korean shops, there was an assembly line production where every worker was responsible for only one part of a finished project. In this way, competition was limited in the Korean shops because all the members were interdependent.

However, the Korean and Chinese shops were similar in that both of them refused to accept African American and Puerto Rican workers. This is interesting because it shows just how deep rooted stereotypes and racist beliefs were in the garment shop industry and  in the society in general.

Sewing women describes one main difference in immigrant garment industries. Korean factories were strict, assembly line functions that were impersonal and hired almost everybody. Chinese garment factories contrasted this through their similarity to and emphasis of familial relationships. Like many families, Chinese garment factories were very close, lenient, and beneficial to growth. The pay by garment rewarded initiative, and the ability to take work home made work possible for mothers requiring flexible schedules. Families come with as many responsibilities as they do benefits. Each Chinese to bring in a new recommended worker would be in charge of teaching them and would have to take responsibility if they failed to perform. Furthermore, like families, any dissent or want of higher wages can be seen as traitorous and ungrateful. This represents the Chinese cultural importance of “face” and reputation.

Both the Chinese and Koreans, however, were equally discriminatory against Puerto Ricans and African-americans. This was shocking to me, as one would think the Chinese and Koreans would recognize their plight and sympathize with them. Once again, I wonder at the state of Chinese and Korean garment factories today, and their employment of Ecuadorians, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and African Americans. Have they gotten more segregated and discriminatory, or more open and accepting?

Chin Chapters 5-9

Questions and Comments that I had as I was reading the last chapters:

What Employers Want

• “Korean garment shop owners have even less experience working with Puerto Ricans than they do with African Americans, but the Korean owners lump these groups together because they often share the poorer neighborhoods of New York City. As one Korean owner commented: “I have never worked with African Americans and Puerto Ricans, but I know Puerto Ricans are like African Americans. They live in the same neighborhoods. They don’t want to work in these immigrant jobs. They say it is not worth their time. They don’t want to work (Chin 87)”.

This part was confusing because I didn’t understand where the stereotypes of African Americans and Puerto Ricans came from and how it spread to Asian American communities. Why didn’t they think that they could hire a few good African Americans and hope that they can pay them less?

• “More than half the Chinese owners expressed a lack of confidence in their English proficiency and familiarity with U.S. laws. This makes them feel vulnerable in the presence of blacks and Puerto Ricans. To the Chinese, blacks and Puerto Ricans are Americans, capable of using legal and institutional means to get what they want when they need to (in other words, they refuse to be exploited)” (Chin 88).

Professor Chin, in the quote above, provided a very interesting perspective in the hiring practices of the Chinese garment shops. The language barrier usually creates problems within the shops. Although the Chinese believed that African American and Puerto Ricans could use the law to protect themselves, at the time did African American and Puerto Ricans really able to utilize the legal system?

• “The Chinese have the notion that working for a white employer is highly desirable—if they were to change sectors, they would not work for Chinese or Koreans but for whites. They see working for whites as a move upward” (Chin 99).

I found it ironic that that the Chinese came to the US to work and a chance at upward mobility yet they feel that moving upward means working under the supposedly superior “whites”. What factors contributed to the image that African Americans are lower than them and whites are higher than them?

The Bottom Line

• “In Korean shops the Mexicans’ and Ecuadorians’ very lack of loyalty to their Korean employers means that they often leave shops to look for higher wages elsewhere. This movement has created a median wage that is higher than that of the Chinese workers. Hispanic workers’ ability to earn higher wages owes to the sewing skills of the workers, who are able to negotiate a higher pay” (Chin 120).

Which situation is better for business, social community, relations between races, and tolerance: having loyalty and paying co-ethnic workers less or having less loyalty but having higher wages with the fear of losing their workers to other shops?

What I especially found interesting about the last few chapters of Sewing Women was the differences and similarities between the Chinese and Korean employers in the garment industry. Both employers liked to hire immigrants who didn’t know English because they were less likely to understand and defend their rights as workers. I thought it was rather fascinating how the Chinese liked to hire from their own race, while the Koreans liked to hire Ecuadorians and Mexicans. Neither group wanted to hire African Americans or Puerto Ricans because they stereotyped them as lazy workers. I was taken aback by the anecdote concerning a Puerto Rican young man who tried to get a factory job in the garment industry. Once he spoke in English, the employer decided not to hire him and that the position was already filled. However, the man sent in a family member and told her to lie and fake an accent and she had the job until she mentioned that her mother was from Puerto Rico then they said “they already had a girl.” The Koreans paid more, but it was a much more time consuming and stressful job compared to that of the Chinese factory owners. The Chinese were much more flexible and family friendly. The Chinese paid by garments, while the Koreans paid hourly.